How I Took a Client to Small Claims Court...and Won

Since we had followed his prescription to the letter, I let him know we’d be happy to remake the case and that our written policy was that all remakes are billed at 50% for completely new crowns. He refused, saying our policy was ridiculous.

In the mid-90s, I was working with a small group of independent practice dentists and one of the new doctors—a recent graduate—sent me a case: two anterior porcelain-fused-to-gold crowns. We followed our standard process—checked the impression, poured the models, made the removable dies, fabricated the units and delivered them on time. When I personally called to follow up and see how the case went, the dentist told me, ‘They didn’t fit the mouth and they need to be remade.’

Since we had followed his prescription to the letter, I let him know we’d be happy to remake the case and that our written policy was that all remakes are billed at 50% for...